It’s a Material World

Monday, July 26th, 2010

A few weeks back, I made a trip to Mass MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams, MA with a good friend.  I never realized that I was lucky enough to have the country’s largest contemporary art museum only an hour and a half away.  I love visiting Mass MoCA, but I must confess, it’s been close to 2 years since I’ve been there last.

What is there not to love about Mass MoCA?  The drive to North Adams is breathtaking, they always have great shows running, they have a permanent Sol Lewitt collection, and honestly– I think I’m in love with their graphic designer.  All of their materials, the brochures, the information graphics, the billboards, the websites, everything is stunning.  Case in point: My friend was enthralled by the exhibit, while I was still standing in the doorway, admiring the font the title was in.  (Although, I don’t know whether that says more about me than the museum, but anyway.)

The major exhibit running on the day of my visit was titled Material World.  It featured room size installation pieces using many different forms of material- rope, strings, paperclips, bubble wrap, astroturf, you name it, it was fair game.  I love whole room installations.  First of all, the scale gives you such a surreal, larger than life feeling.  Secondly, it allows the viewer to be interactive with the piece, to view it from all angles and see how your experience changes.

Don’t let me forget the Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With Exhibit!  This was a little living space, housed inside a very large room.  The walls were glass, and when you looked inside- everything was upside down.  As in the furniture was on the ceiling.  And it wasn’t just the furniture, they paid attention to other details as well.  The kitchen even had an upside down french press on their upside down counter.  (These upside down people have discerning taste in coffee.)

Here are some of my images from my visit to Mass MoCA.  You can see the rest of them on my Flickr page here.

Eli Levenstein- Reading Room for Mass MoCA

Big Boss, Orly Genger

Alyson Shotz- The Geometry of Light

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle- Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With